The present invention relates to an apparatus for polishing a work and a method of polishing a work, more precisely relates to an apparatus for polishing a work and a method of polishing a work, in each of which electrolytic reduced water is used.
A surface of a work, e.g., silicon wafer, is polished in a single stage or multiple stages to perform a rough polish process, a moderate polish process and a finishing polish process with using specified polishing liquid. Abrasive grains, e.g., colloidal silica, chemical agents, etc. are added to the polishing liquid (see Japanese Patent Kokai Gazette No. 3-281165). After completing a polishing step including said processes, the polished work is cleaned so as to remove fine particles and ion residual dross stuck on the surface of the work.
However, the polishing method using the above described polishing liquid has following problems: (1) the polishing liquid, especially the polishing liquid for the finishing polish process is expensive; (2) the fine particles and the ion residual dross in the polishing liquid stick onto the surface of the work, so a cleaning step must be required and a cost for polishing the work must be increased; (3) the fine particles exist on the surface of the work, so polishing accuracy of a finishing step must be limited; and (4) costs for treating the used polishing liquid and the used washing liquid must be high.